sagging pool Wall and safety

[justin_huffman]

Hello Friends I hope everyone having a great TFP season thus far.
Last year I noticed my pool wall sinking a little bit. This year it is sinking even more. Or perhaps another section of pool is heaving from water draining off the house.

In any case, im concerned about the safety of the pool; as it sits atop a large hill I worry if the wall breaches it will carry anyone away down the hill.

The side wall has ribbon patten at the top and makes half figure 8s into one another. at the highest vs the lowest I see about 3" drop in the liner - of course the pool water looks like its different. I will get a few pics taken this after noon and add to the thread .

My question is could a pool wall just fail or would it need an outside force to breach.

 

[Mdragger88]

Hello Friends I hope everyone having a great TFP season thus far.
Last year I noticed my pool wall sinking a little bit. This year it is sinking even more. Or perhaps another section of pool is heaving from water draining off the house.

In any case, im concerned about the safety of the pool; as it sits atop a large hill I worry if the wall breaches it will carry anyone away down the hill.

The side wall has ribbon patten at the top and makes half figure 8s into one another. at the highest vs the lowest I see about 3" drop in the liner - of course the pool water looks like its different. I will get a few pics taken this after noon and add to the thread .

My question is could a pool wall just fail or would it need an outside force to breach.

Awaiting your pictures- but usually an above ground pool wall fails for these reasons:
*Rust (caused by many factors)
*Unlevelness causing too much water pressure in one area (caused by many things)
*creasing from too much winter ice /snow on the cover.
I am assuming u have an unlevel situation It is possible that the ground has heaved or poor drainage has caused washout of the base of the pool wall & uprights. Either way the correct fix is to disassemble the pool & level the base. Be prepared to at least replace the liner & possibly the entire pool if you find rust.
If poor drainage is to blame you should address that as well by diverting the water away from the pool. Also Poor drainage usually = rust.
*More than 3 inches off level is a dangerous situation
here’s some reading on the subject

How to level above ground pool - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[justin_huffman]

Thank you Mdragger I cant get pics to load, both in their native form and then just screen shots so im going to put them on Facebook and add a link here - I measured this am while pool water is calm, the greatest variance between the highest point and the lowest point (relative) to the liner wall is 2 5/8 inches

 

[justin_huffman]

Screen Shot 2021-06-14 at 7.12.27 AM.png

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[justin_huffman]

Screen Shot 2021-06-14 at 7.12.15 AM.png

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[zea3]

Lower the resolution and you should be able to post photos.

 

[justin_huffman]

Screen Shot 2021-06-14 at 7.11.42 AM.png

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[zea3]

Can you post a photo of the ground around the pool?

 

[zea3]

It sounds like some erosion of the soil at the base of the pool may be happening. Eventually gravity and the weight of the water is going to cause the pool to fail. I would drain the pool and relocate it or stabilize the ground with an engineered retaining wall. You can consult with a landscaping engineer to advise how to make the pool site stable and safe.

 

[justin_huffman]

IMG_8947.HEIC

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this is the high side, or the part of the pool wall that sits the highest relative to the pool liner even though the footer seems a little buried

 

[justin_huffman]

this is the lowest point or where the water rides the highest relative to the pool liner

IMG_8948.HEIC

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[justin_huffman]

It sounds like some erosion of the soil at the base of the pool may be happening. Eventually gravity and the weight of the water is going to cause the pool to fail. I would drain the pool and relocate it or stabilize the ground with an engineered retaining wall. You can consult with a landscaping engineer to advise how to make the pool site stable and safe.

for sure its either eroding or sinking or both. coupled with some winter heaving. At 2and 5/8 Maximum change in level is it system critical or can we get the season out of it. of courses thats a question that just isn't answerable given the gravity. thanks for you' all input

 

[zea3]

I would have a professional come look at the site. They should be able to tell you how soon you should make repairs.

 

[justin_huffman]

I would have a professional come look at the site. They should be able to tell you how soon you should make repairs.

ive tried that, cant get anyone to come out. ill continue to try thanks again

 

[Mdragger88]

It looks like some of the sinking is at the upright nearest the skimmer (correct me if I’m just seeing it that way).
If so, it may be from splash out through the skimmer. To prevent that from getting worse you can bury some pavers under there sloping away from the pool wall then cover them back up with rocks.
It doesn’t look unstable at this point but a leak or something could change that quickly.
I would definitely keep an eye on it - measuring every so often to see if it changes. How old is the pool?